AT&T Archives: How Did You Do That?
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
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How Did You Do That? 1977
Back in 1977, when the Bell System had just started to install electronic switching systems, or ESS, it made possible a few advances that we think of as either routine, standard, or already eclipsed by more modern technology. These were:
1. Call Waiting
2. Call Forwarding
3. Threeway Calling (conference calling, limited to 3 people)
4. Speed Calling (i.e. speed dial)
This film, guided by three very 1970s ladies, shows how adding these elements to the basic functions of one's phone could extend a whole range of freedoms to one's lifestyle, should the user master the methods. It's hard to imagine a telephone or cell phone without call waiting--though the other developments aren't as necessary to modern digital lifestyles. But at the time, these were novel improvements on communications, and an essential addition of services to one's phone line.
Footage courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ
They were so excited about how much time all these features can save, and they spent the entire 7 and a half minutes, and this month's meeting talking about them.
Mmmmm
The lady who forwarded her calls looked exhausted dialing those 9 digits.
For someone who speaks so highly of speed calling, she doesn't seem to use it much.
It sure is funny the things you take for granted on your cell phone .These were once special features you had to pay for on your land line. Now they are on your touch screen pocket computer for free.
How do you use these features on your cell phone?
You don't. You just take them for granted.
@@marcfield1234 How Do You Know We Take Then For Granted?
@@MrXminus1 Learhow to use them.
Under *[ 1 ]* I programmed call-forwarding my cell phone to our home landline whehome. Manyvonderful features.
i remember when these features came out in 1976 New York Telephone got me hooked up in that package
Dianne Sands we didn’t get these features in Massachusetts until the early 90s!
Dianne Sands
I live in Melbourne. Australia and I remember these things coming in in the 1970s
and they are here to stay
I lived in an area with a 5ESS office. Installed new in 1985 with all these features. Prior to that we had a Crossbar office and only had Touch Tone available. We got rotary service in 1954 and Touch Tone was added in 1964 at this crossbar office. *Ma Bell made sure all these features were extra. I had free Touch Tone because I knew an installer at the CO.
Good GOD we had every one of these fantastic features - brings back a ton of memories! There were 4 teenagers in our house for a few years and it was a God-send to have these features - saved a lot frustration on my parents' part!
I was born October 1977, I had no idea call waiting was in its infancy. Good LORD I feel old!
The problem is Devil runs the world. He is lier and murderer. That's why we've got the Gospel about the God's kingdom.
Jehovah would put everything in order. The dead will be resurected and we'll meet our beloved ones again! :-)
The "click-beep-click" of the reed relay in the 1AESS of the time. I even enjoyed that for a while.
Yes, and the fact in 1AESS CW, and 3WC were independent of each other so I could be on a 3 way call, and still got my call waiting. 5ESS changed all that.
Lol! I still have one of those 2554 wall mount "touch tone" telephones in my kitchen. Ours is white.
Touch tone are for lazy people
I remember getting these features long long ago in the 70s! In addition, we also had CallerID which they didn't mention here.
Caller ID in the 70s? Was it Caller ID Name and Number?
In Alabama, as a child, we didn't have true CID readout until the 90s. We did have Ringmaster which gave special callers a distinctive ring, but no display box until at least 1990.
KeyStroke Yes Caller Showed The Name And Phone Number
In the 70s, this would have to be accomplished using ANI (part of the billing system), and would only be able to send a phone number, likely by dial pulsing to the subscriber.
@@hawnmelissa2000 I used to work for BellSouth. Caller ID came in two variants: Caller ID and Caller ID Name and Number. The former only provided the calling number (or calling line ID if you subscribed to a multi-line package and had a splitter.) Caller ID n/N was more expensive by about $3 if I recall correctly.
@@NortelGeek I Didn’t Know That
At the beginning of the video, the ringing sound was that of a dual-gong ringer. The yellow 2554 in the video came with a single-gong ringer. EXPLAIN!
ruclips.net/video/AxXsIQDafog/видео.html "Faking It: The Obviously Dubbed Telephone Ring"
I noticed that too
I was a stickler for listening to ringers on TV shows and movies. Many times the sounds didnt match the sets the characters were answering. Today it doesn't matter,
Everyone is on a cell or texting back.
AND the Touch-Tones Cheryl was dialing didn’t match the numbers she pressed! Very surprising, given that this was produced by the phone company itself.
Call waiting really was a GREAT service in its time. I remember countless times I couldn’t call a friend because somebody was expecting an important call. When CW became available I remember offering my dad to pay the difference in the phone bill out of my allowance if he’d get it, and he accepted, but as I remember I never lost any allowance. Once he realized how useful the service was, he was happy to pay for it. Most people I knew had it within a couple years.
The next thing they offered was unique ringing, which was available just in time for me to move out of my parents’ house and in with a roommate. It worked like a classic party-line service, just with all parties contained within one house or apartment. The line was shared by all extensions, but each person could have his or her own phone number and their own unique ring pattern.
Frontier (former GTE and Verizon landline areas) still offers call waiting to this day. I don't think I have ever actually answered a second call using it but it is part of my landline telephone service and occasionally there will be a blip in my line when someone else is dialing in and the caller ID displays the caller's name and phone number.
Love those yellow phones. I have a yellow desk set, model 500. Still works on my landline in 2020.
I’m surprised blonde lady has touch tone service, she seems to be the only one who hasn’t heard of any of these features.
Rockies Dude Her Being Clueless Doesn’t Surprise Me
Back when I was a teenager in the 90’s, I convinced my parents to get me my own phone line. I was able to pay for the extra features myself. I thought I was the shiz because I had 3 Way Calling, *69, and Voice Mail. I’m sure I had call forwarding too, but never used it.
I was a kid in the 90s and I wanted my own phone too, even though I didn’t have friends who could call me so that idea was shot down by my parents pretty quick 😂
I remember the Basics package from Southwestern Bell, it had caller ID, call waiting, three way calling and call forwarding.
I remember we used to have a land line phone with Caller ID & Call Waiting.
And that was back in the 90's.
"Back in the 90s"...LOL
@@Janotes
1999 was 24 years ago. I was in the second grade.
@@nathanventura548 I'm pushing 60 kid..😄
Believe it or not, my grandparents have AT&T and don't have any of these features, they have some antique old plan that doesn't even include caller ID. Betting it's the same package from Illinois Bell.
I have a plan from Northwestern Bell, I don't have any features like that either. You have to pay extra.
No good
@@mikepeterson764
Here in Australia,they are free
@@neilmansfield8329 And thats why we love in a fantastic capitalist society, called America, jack!
@@peterssynthetics-independe6786 You obviously have no idea what Australians pay for their phone and Internet service.
We started installing number one ss back in 1964 in New York City area. Somebody said they started in 1977, way off. In the mid-70s we will installing number four ESS the first digital Electronics switching systems. Then we went on to number five ESS first digital fiber optic Electronics switching system. I worked on all of them, including ETS, electronic translator system, tsps, traffic service position systems, this is when we want to electronic switching for the operators, all electronic, the operator would sit down at a console, each console, seated two operators, 32 consoles, with 64 operators, they were arranged in a semicircle manner. Today's date August 28th 2022. I started working for Western Electric, in February 3rd, 1963. Spent many years in company schools. This technology not available in any college or university. Bell labs, that was our University, great experience and a superb education. I had 36 years, working for, Ma Belle.
Call waiting is an incredible service offered by the telephone company
I love three way calling. I can call voicemail twice and send myself 2 messages at once. We have cox digital voice or xfinity
I had nearly forgotten about all these landline features we used even on early cell phones. My mom got her first cell phone in 1997 and all the same touch tone features of our landline of the time also worked on her boxy Motorola. Though I do remember that you could just store numbers on that too even then.
I hated the call waiting feature on my home phone. Every time I was on the phone, another call would come in and interrupt.
We had rotary service for years then when I was a teen I brought home a used WE 2554 set and hooked it up.
The touchtone worked, the phone company eventually caught on and threatened to charge us extra for touchtone. My dad blew his lid and made me disconnect it.
If u disconnect the bell the phone company would have never known another phone was connected.
@@AAA-uy2ob yes this was at least 40 years ago. I hadn't completely delved into the intricacies of telecom.
Back then those were smart phones
They may not be smart now, but they are still indestructible
The phones were still just as dumb. It was the equipment that was smart.
Call Waiting. An unnecessary extra expense on your bill. Ahh the bad old days.
John Roscoe You Know Nonething
@@hawnmelissa2000 I "no" nothing? You're an idiot.
@@johnroscoe2406 Look Who’s Talking
@@hawnmelissa2000 look who doesn’t know how to spell
I can't believe call forwarding has been *72 for over 40 years
Wow I just had to research that. I forgot the call forward code having Verizon Fios..
Verizon Wireless still uses it in their mobile network. AT&T and T-Mobile on the other hand use the standard GSM feature codes for call forwarding.
And if you were lucky enough to have a line on 5ESS you didn't hear the click.
And of course Mother Bell charged dearly for those 'features'. Now it's all packaged on your cell phone. No additional charge. Yet most people aren't aware that cell phones can do 3-way. But cell phones now have call waiting, call forwarding, call block, speed dial. Amazing how technology marches ahead.
Yes but back then the repairman came into your home and fixed the inside wire and telephone if needed Employees took pride in their work and were well trained. I hired on in 1973 and was proud to work for MaBell.
I think all of these features were the #5ESS switch provided, it came in around the 1980's when I worked there.
The 1ESS and 3ESS could also provide these features. Those were still analog switches but controlled by a digital computer system that could handle advanced features like this
When I had a land line, I purchased all this Merede! Came to my sences y/et dumped it!
And with digital swiching. You now can get Call return. That's where you can dial a code and it will automatically dial the last number that called you. And repeat calling. Where if the number is busy. You dial a code and your phone will ring when the called party 's line is free. And there is call ID. That's a special device you attach to your phone line and it displays the number calling your line.
Back when people spoke on the phone with each other like they had class.
You must not be aware that there was a thing called crank calls.
"heavy breather " was slang for an anonymous verbal sexual assault over the phone.
And kids would call random numbers and say stupid stuff .This was before caller ID
for the call waiting one, the husband could have done an emergency breakthrough, years ago the phone company would do it free of charge, they still do it but there is a charge
Fun and simple times
One day the phones will be in our minds
I wonder if that stuff in a home ever got used???
Retro
Yes used all the time, Call waiting was the best feature, and the one subscribed to the most.
The younger woman reminds me of Christina Applegate.
Call waiting is so good
Caller ID destroyed are fun of calling people and asking them if their refrigerator was running.
And we still have them today even with mobiles
Was it expensive?
you could subscribe to one or a package of three at a reduced cost.As I remember Call waiting was the most popular, three way calling and call forwarding, Speed Dialing was at a time when phones could not remember favorite numbers, Speed Dialing 8 was less expensive than speed Dialing 30. Cost was the equivalent to tday's $9.95 each or all three for $19.95
floppy586 You Can Get All Three Through The Phone Company
Of course it was... they had a monopoly. AT&T (Bell system) owned EVERYTHING to do with your telephone service and line. Up until the 80's you could not legally buy a phone to install on your line. You leased the phone from "Ma Bell" who manufactured it at Western Electric (Bell Labs), installed it through THIER installers and maintained it as well. I will say this though... that monopoly was efficient AF and when they were broken up by court order... you noticed a difference (crap service, and long distance wars to name two)
This looks like Maude or a 70s soap opera!
What is the model of the phone shown here? My Mom had this phone!
Western electric 2554
Grandfather Tech to smart phones.
Now this is really bugging me. Can anyone confirm the identity of the actress playing the part of Sheryl? She looks and sounds to me like Gloria Stuart.
I had both the Call Waiting and Voicemail disabled on both my Land Line and my Cell Phone. I figure if the call is Important, they will call me back if it is busy. As for the Voicemail, I have an Answering Machine on the Land Line, so no Monthly Charges. The Phone is for my Convenience. In the 70s I had a good Call Screening for late night calls. i would answer, "This better be Important". In about 80% of the Calls I ended up saying "Not Important Enough" and hang up
Like many people in small towns, I used a rotary dial phone until 1991, & I was born 1960. That was all any phone user knew of until push buttons came out for home phones, so you didn't give it a thought, to use the rotary dial. I'd rather use the rotary dial than the crank handle on early phones. Some small towns didn't offer the push button kind until mid 1980's or so. The dial spun fast. It really just took a few seconds to dial a phone number, and back then when you phoned someone in your own town you just used the last four numbers, never the area code or prefix. Now days you have to dial all those numbers just to call someone across the street! I hate that.
Never experienced electromechanical switches, but am somewhat annoyed that there are 3 different area codes serving the same small rural area, meaning that all calls require 10 digit dialing.
Only if yourCentral Office had gone digital.
This did not require a digital office, but it did require an office with computer control. In a 1ESS, the voice path was analog, but a computer controlled all the switches.
“Cheryl”
I have a old rotary phone on my wall just for fun
It took 10 years to do that 😆
This was high tech for the time. But my iPhone doesn't have call waiting and Frankly it's beginning to suck.
dcc
Mmmm,
Little 🧀